MUSTANG IS A BEST TRAVEL 2013

Only a few years ago it was ‘nobody’s been there’, now it’s heading towards ‘last chance to see’. The completion of a road connecting Mustang to China in the north and the rest of Nepal to the south will make all the difference.


Lo Manthang, or Mustang as it’s usually called, has been dubbed ‘little Tibet’ or ‘the last forbidden kingdom’; though politically part of Nepal, in language, culture, climate and geography, it’s Tibet. The remote region is north of the Himalayan watershed and on the Tibetan plateau, and just south of the border with ‘big Tibet’, the Chinese one.
Until 1992 nobody from outside was allowed in; for a while after that it was opened up to a few hundred a year, and these days it anyone can enter, though the pricey trekking permit keeps the numbers down. There’s also a restricted season for visits: in winter it’s too cold and the snow too deep, so for months each year it again becomes a ‘forbidden kingdom’. Much of the population heads south to India and further afield during these winter months to exercise their legendary trading abilities.
Up here everything is sharp, severe and absolute: the colours are vivid, the terrain is rugged, the air is crisp, it’s either desert-dry or river-rapids, sere and barren or a flash of irrigated green.


Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/nepal/mustang#ixzz2G1puhcrS




Explore the long forbidden ‘Tibetan' Kingdom of Mustang
The Kingdom of Mustang preserves some of the last vestiges of traditional Tibetan Buddhist culture. Situated on the border of Nepal and Tibet, it is open to only a few select trekking groups each season. The trek follows established trails through substantial villages that once served a thriving trade route between Nepal and Tibet. These whitewashed settlements, set amid fields of barley and home to impressive chortens and simple monasteries, reflect the abiding Buddhist culture. The terrain is striking, a semi-arid desert with deep ravines and rock shelves, flanked by snowy peaks. A highlight is the visit to Lo Manthang where the King of Mustang reigns over his tiny kingdom and surveys a world still culturally closer to the heartland of Tibet than to the markets and temples of Kathmandu.
Highlights
Stunning views of the Annapurna range
Trek through remote villages
Fully supported camping based trek including 3 hearty meals per day prepared by our cooks
Visit the ancient walled city of Lo Manthang, with it's palace and famous gompas
Himalayan Mountain flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara & Jomson and return
Sightseeing in Kathmandu - Pashupatinath (a major Hindu shrine) and the giant Buddhist stupa at Boudhanath
Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive Kathmandu
You will be met by a representative of World Expeditions and transferred to the Radisson hotel. Remainder of the afternoon at leisure. A pre-trek briefing will be given around 5pm where arrangements will be made for the distribution of your kit bag, sleeping bag and down/fibrefill jacket. Evening drinks are held in the hotel for all World Expeditions clients arriving today. Drinks and snacks will generally be served from 6:30 pm until 7:15pm, and this is a great opportunity to get acquainted with your fellow group members before heading out to dinner.
Day 2 Half Day Sightseeing Tour, afternoon at leisure.
This morning a sightseeing tour takes in the key attractions in and around Kathmandu. We will visit Pashupatinath and Boudhanath, returning to the hotel by 2pm. In the afternoon you may have time to explore Durbar Square, Patan, Swayambhunath or Bhaktapur, and the lesser-known towns that dot the valley on foot, by bicycle or trishaw. The area has an amazing range of fascinating highlights, whatever your interest. Excellent bookshops, extensive markets, and novelty and handicraft shops contrast with fantastic centres of cultural and spiritual significance - Kathmandu has more World Heritage sites than any other city in the world.
Day 3 Fly to Pokhara
This morning we take a flight west to Pokhara, Nepal's second largest town and our first night's camp.
Day 4 Fly to Jomsom (2713m), trek to Kagbeni (2810m), walk approx. 3hrs.
This morning we take a spectacular flight to Jomsom where we will meet our trekking crew. A half day walk brings us to Kagbeni, an impressive village that is our gateway to Mustang. To pass beyond this point you need a special Mustang permit. We will meet our liaison officer and the crew will prepare for tomorrow's crossing into Mustang.
Day 5 To Chele (3030m), walk approx. 6hrs.
We enter Mustang and follow the east bank of the river over a series of small ridges. Across the river we can see Kang Gompa, a centre of the Nyingmapa sect. Approaching Tangbe we encounter the distinctive black, red and white chortens that typify upper Mustang. The town of white washed houses contains an intriguing pattern of alleyways and is surrounded by fields of wheat, barley and buckwheat, interspersed with small apple orchards. We cross to the east bank of the river and ascend to the village of Chele. Immediately, the strong influence of Tibetan culture of Lo is evident with the decoration of the houses.
Day 6 To Geiling (3440m), walk approx. 6-7hrs.
The trail today is characterised by the crossing of a series of large spurs. At the top of each are chortens and an excellent view of this harsh but beautiful countryside. The valleys that dissect the trail have cool streams and juniper trees to enable us to relax for a while. These passes are at altitudes of up to 3800m. These altitudes should not present any acclimatisation issues, so we just take our time and enjoy the walk.
Day 7 To Charang (3490m), walk approx. 7hrs.
Avenues of poplar trees and fields of barley mark our trail as we head to Nyi La (pass). At 3850m this is the highest point of the trek thus far and the southern boundary of Lo. We descend to the Qumona Khola and pass a spectacular series of mani walls to the village of Charang with it's huge white dzong and red gompa.
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Additional Information
Inclusions
15 breakfasts, 12 lunches, 12 dinners
airport transfers
expert bilingual guide
mountain flights with Nepal valued at US$280 approx
special permit US$500
group medical kit
good quality accommodation in Kathmandu
trek pack including sleeping bag, down or fibre filled jacket and insulated mat
Souvenir World Expeditions kit bag
private transportation
all park entrance fees
porters to carry all personal and group equipment
porter's insurance
sightseeing in Kathmandu
site entry fees

Summary
16 day trip
10 day trek
4 nights hotels
11 nights camping
Trip Main Activities
Trekking
Exploratory Treks
Group Size Min
4
Group Size Max
16
Accommodation Summary
Equipment Required
Specialist gear required include walking boots and day pack (a comprehensive gear list is provided in the pre-departure information provided on booking).
What You Carry
In your daypack you will need to carry extra warm clothing (depending on the altitude, location and weather), a rainjacket, water bottle, film and camera gear, valuables and personal items such as sunscreen, lip-eze etc. Porters and mules carry all group gear and your trek pack.


Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/nepal/tours/trekking/kingdom-mustang?lpaffil=fbta1#ixzz2G1sqVi43

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Obama warns of 'Scrooge Christmas' without fiscal deal

The White House has said it will not accept a deal that extends a tax break for the wealthy

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US Economy

• Death, taxes and the GOP
• Q&A: The US fiscal cliff
• Who first called it a 'fiscal cliff'?
• US v Europe: Which is worse?

US President Barack Obama has warned of a "Scrooge Christmas" if tax breaks are not renewed for working families in a deal to avert a so-called fiscal cliff.

Mr Obama made the remarks as he tried to win public support for his plan on a visit to a toy-maker in Pennsylvania.

But Republican House Speaker John Boehner said talks with the White House had gone "almost nowhere".

He said President Barack Obama's plan to raise $1.6tn (£1tn) of revenue over 10 years was not a "serious proposal".

Planned tax rises and spending cuts due to take effect on 1 January could send the US back into recession, economists warn.

'Lump of coal'

On Friday, Mr Obama toured the Rodon Group manufacturing facility, where parts for the children's toy K'nex are made.

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“Start Quote

There's a stalemate - let's not kid ourselves”

John BoehnerSpeaker of the House

• Breakfast club gloomy on deal
• Obama presses 'fiscal cliff' case

The Democratic president said it was the type of company that depended on middle-class customers to buy its goods, adding it would be hurt if ordinary Americans faced a tax rise.

In a speech at the factory, Mr Obama said both parties would have to "get out of our comfort zones" in order to negotiate a deal on the fiscal cliff, and pledged he would be willing to do the same.

He said that if Congress did not extend soon-to-expire tax breaks for the middle-class, it would be like receiving a "lump of coal" at Christmas.

"That's a Scrooge Christmas," Mr Obama added.

Tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W Bush are due to expire under the fiscal cliff.

Mr Obama favours extending the break for households earning below $250,000. But he wants taxes to rise for those on income above that sum.

Mr Boehner said that asking the top 2% of US taxpayers to pay more would deal a "crippling blow" to a fragile economy.

He also criticised as inadequate spending cuts that were proposed on Thursday by the Obama administration.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put forward a plan to congressional leaders that would raise $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over a decade.

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What is the fiscal cliff?

• Under a deal reached last year between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress, existing stimulus measures - mostly tax cuts - will expire on 1 January 2013
• Cuts to defence, education and other government spending will then automatically come into force - the "fiscal cliff" - unless Congress acts
• The economy does not have the momentum to absorb the shock from going over the fiscal cliff without going into recession

The proposal envisages spending more money to help the unemployed and struggling homeowners.

And it called for savings of as much as $400bn from Medicare and other benefit programmes over 10 years.

Mr Boehner told reporters on Friday: "There's a stalemate. Let's not kid ourselves. Right now, we're almost nowhere."

Some Republicans have said they would consider increased tax revenue as part of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

But the White House believes that simply ending tax deductions would not address the yawning budget deficit.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has indicated Mr Obama would not support any deal that did not increase tax rates on the wealthiest.

The fiscal cliff would suck about $600bn (£347bn) out of the economy.

The measures were partly put in place within a 2011 deal to curb the yawning US budget deficit.

Storm Sandy: Obama surveys devastation in Atlantic City

Storm Sandy Transport chaos as floods recede

Storm Sandy Transport chaos as floods recede

Storm Sandy Transport chaos as floods recede

US election: Crunching the numbers

By Richard KnightBBC News

Just like in every US presidential election campaign, the two opponents have been using statistics to bolster their arguments. But do the numbers stand up?

Where's the middle?

Politicians - particularly wealthy ones like Mitt Romney - are often accused of being out of touch. Sometimes they do not help their case.

Speaking recently to ABC News, Mitt Romney said: "No-one can say my plan is going to raise taxes on middle-income people, because principle number one is to keep the burden down on middle-income taxpayers".

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Middle class in the UK

• British politicians tend to use phrases like "hard-working families" rather than the term "middle class", which American politicians regularly use when referring to much of the US
• Polls suggest about 70% of Britons and about 90% of Americans self-identify as middle class

• Time to abandon UK middle class
• Defining the US middle class

The interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, asked if $100,000 (£62,000) was middle income, to which Mr Romney replied "no, middle income is $200,000 [£123,000] to $250,000 [£154,000] and less."

But it's not just the Republicans. President Obama's been boasting about "middle-class" tax cuts - and in that he includes households whose income is under that magic number, $250,000.

"Median [household] income in the United States is just about $50,000," says Roberton Williams from America's Tax Policy Center, "so this is much, much higher than the median income. In fact, we estimate two or three per cent of Americans have incomes above those thresholds."

So for families on $250,000 dollars to be middle class, the "middle" would have to extend to the 97th percentile - in other words, most of America.

So why "median" income rather than a simple average, the mean? The reason is that the mean is skewed by very high earners. One could earn - at the extremes - billions, but it's hard to earn less than nothing. So average income will be a lot higher than the actual incomes most people take home.

Roberton Williams explains it with a joke. "If Bill Gates [the Microsoft billionaire] walks into a bar," he says, "everyone [in the bar] is on average a millionaire."

US military death toll in Afghanistan reaches 2,000

A US soldier and contractor were killed while three Afghan soldiers died and several were injured.

One eyewitness said vehicles were being stopped and searched when shooting broke out

A checkpoint shooting in eastern Afghanistan has taken the US military's death toll in the war past 2,000.

The new deaths occurred on Saturday in Wardak province.

The international mission, Isaf, initially said the soldier was believed to have been killed by a member of the Afghan security services, but it later said the circumstances were unclear.

What is known is that a firefight took place, after what Isaf described as a short conversation between coalition and Afghan soldiers, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.

The Pentagon named the dead American soldier as Sgt 1st Class Riley Stephens, of the First Battalion, Third Special Forces Group (Airborne), saying the 39-year-old had died "of wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire".Isaf says "insurgent fire" may have been involved in the incident, which is now under investigation by a joint Afghan and coalition team, adds our correspondent.

The American death toll goes back to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

'Checkpoint row'

Sunday's incident took place at a checkpoint near an Afghan National Army base in the district of Sayedabad, according to Afghan officials.

Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman, earlier told the Associated Press news agency that an Afghan soldier had turned his gun on Americans and started shooting.

"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," he said.

But Isaf later said an American soldier and an American contractor, along with three Afghan soldiers, were killed in an exchange of fire in confusing circumstances that may have involved insurgent activity.

Isaf's deputy commander, Lt Gen Adrian Bradshaw, said: "The circumstances were somewhat confused and we are establishing the full facts to the extent that it is possible."

Military officials from both sides have launched a joint investigation.

Two thousand dead

The figure of 2,000 deaths was given by US officials on Sunday. During the war in Iraq, 4,409 American soldiers were killed.

As of 27 September, the Pentagon's official military death toll for Afghanistan had stood at 1,996.

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The count includes both soldiers killed in action and soldiers who died of their injuries in hospital. The figure also covers 339 non-combat deaths.

A report by the Brookings Institutionestimates that 40.2% of US deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices and 30.3% by gun attacks.

Officially, at least 17,644 US soldiers have been wounded in action in Afghanistan.

The independent organisation iCasualties estimates a higher US death toll, recording 2,125 to date.

This same source reports 1,066 deaths of non-US members of the coalition in Afghanistan. Since the war began, 433 British soldiers have been killed.

It is more difficult to establish the Afghan toll in the war but most estimates calculate a minimum of 20,000 civilian deaths, AP notes.

Some 10,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed. No reliable figures exist for deaths among the Taliban and other insurgents.

Nato combat troops are set to withdraw by the end of 2014, but a central plank of the strategy is that foreign soldiers will serve alongside and train Afghans for many years to come.

Correspondents say that may not be realistic given the ever increasing number of Afghans who turn their weapons on their foreign allies

Deadly Kenya grenade attack hits children in church

Eyewitness Irene Wambui says worshippers "ran for their lives"One child has been killed and three seriously hurt, police say, in a grenade attack on a church's Sunday school in the Kenya capital, Nairobi.

The attacker targeted St Polycarp's church on Juja Road.

A police spokesman blamed sympathisers of Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist militant group, angry over Kenya's role in the UN-backed intervention force.

A mob later rounded on Somalis living near the church with sticks and stones in a suspected revenge attack.

Police chief Moses Nyakwama told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that 13 people had been injured in the revenge attack, in the suburb of Eastleigh.

Separately, two police officers were killed in an ambush in the town of Garissa, near the border with Somalia.

In July, 15 people were killed in raids on churches in Garissa, and there was speculation that al-Shabab or its sympathisers were responsible.

'Running for their lives'

Reports suggested a number of those hurt at the church were injured in a stampede after the attack.

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Analysis

A police spokesman, Charles Owino, told Reuters news agency: "We suspect this blast might have been carried out by sympathisers of al-Shabab.

"These are the kicks of a dying horse since, of late, Kenyan police have arrested several suspects in connection with grenades."

The authorities said three children were seriously hurt in the attack, and a number of others suffered lighter injuries.

The Red Cross had earlier said six children were critically wounded.

Irene Wambui, who was in the church at the time of the attack, said: "We were just worshipping God in church when suddenly we heard an explosion and people started running for their lives.

"We came to realise that the explosion had injured some kids who were taken to hospital and unfortunately one succumbed."

Senior Nairobi police officer Moses Ombati appealed for calm after youths reportedly attacked the nearby Alamin mosque.

Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last October.

The attacks in Mombasa escalated after radical Islamist preacher Aboud Rogo Mohammed was killed in a drive-by shooting in August.

Nepal plane crash: Seven Britons killed

A plane heading for the Everest region has crashed on the outskirts of Nepal's capital, killing all 19 people on board including seven British tourists.

The plane, operated by Sita Air, came down minutes after take-off from Kathmandu. Officials said it crashed into a river bank and caught fire.

Sixteen passengers and three crew were on board the twin-propeller Dornier.

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed the British deaths and said relatives have been informed.

As well as the seven Britons, five Chinese nationals and seven Nepali nationals were on the plane, including the three Nepalese crew, police and aviation officials said.

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Analysis

Sanjaya Dhakal
BBC Nepali
Friday's plane crash has once again drawn international attention to Nepal's poor air safety record.

The crash is the second this year. Four months ago, 15 people died when an Agni Air plane carrying Indian pilgrims to a Hindu religious site in northern Nepal crashed at a high-altitude airport.

In September last year, another plane on a mountain sight-seeing flight crashed into a hillside near Kathmandu, killing all 19 people on board.

Since 1949 - the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal - there have been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 650 people have been killed.

While the latest crash appears in part due to exceptional circumstances, critics say that many passenger aircraft in Nepal are often poorly maintained, one of the main reasons for so many crashes.

But critics say that there is also another serious malaise in Nepali aviation - a regulatory body that has consistently failed to prevent airline operators from cutting corners on safety in what is a competitive market.

The British Embassy in Kathmandu said the UK ambassador had gone to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, where the bodies of those who died had been taken.

The cause of the crash is not yet known. However, the general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport, Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, said it appeared that the plane had struck a bird.

He said air traffic control contacted the pilot after noticing an unusual manoeuvre minutes after take-off and the pilot said his plane had hit a vulture.

Mr Suman said the plane had been attempting to get back to the airport when it crashed.

Nepalese officials later said that the flight recorders had been recovered from the wreckage.

They said initial reports suggested the crash happened as the pilots tried to change direction and land again after suffering "technical glitches".

Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai promised to take action to prevent similar accidents, but did not give details.

"I am saddened by the death of the locals and foreign nationals in the plane crash. I pay condolences to the families of the dead," he said.

The Dornier 228 aircraft had been heading for Lukla, the hub for trekking in the Everest region.

The trekking season has just begun in Nepal and thousands of climbers, including many Westerners, head to the country's famous Himalayan peaks.

A spokeswoman for local travel firm Sherpa Adventures said the British group had arrived in Nepal on Wednesday and was due to start trekking on Friday until 16 October.

Police spokesman Binod Singh told the AFP news agency that "the pilots seem to have tried to land it safely on the banks of the river but unfortunately the plane caught fire".

One of the first rescuers to reach the crash site, police officer Bhagwan Bhandari, described the scene as "terrifying".

"There was fire coming from the aircraft. Red flames were reaching up to 20m (65ft) above the ground," he said.


Climber Alan Hinkes says the landing strip at Lukla is where most crashes happen
"It wasn't possible to get inside to conduct rescue operations. We could hear blasts from the parts and engines of the aircraft."

Images showed burning wreckage at the crash site and dozens of rescue and security personnel.

British mountaineer Alan Hinkes told the BBC he had taken the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla many times and that problems usually occurred at the Lukla end.

"The landing strip in Lukla is a bit like an aircraft carrier with a mountain at the end of it, with a 1,000ft drop at the end of the runway. Normally crashes happen at that end," he said.

He added: "It is not the safest place to fly, I must admit, but it is what you have to do to get into the mountains."

Aviation accidents involving small aircraft are not uncommon in mountainous Nepal.

In May, 15 people were killed when a plane crashed trying to land at an airport in the north of the country.

And in September 2011, 19 people were killed when a Buddha Air plane crashed during a flight to view Mount Everest.

The trouble with political financing in India

Political financing in India remains opaque
The more things change, the more they remain the same.

As a recent audit by election watchdog Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows, financing of political parties in India continues to be opaque despite the fact that they are forced to declare their incomes.

Parties must submit details of contributions received in excess of 20,000 rupees ($365, £225) to election authorities. They can also claim tax exemptions on their earnings if they keep proper books of accounts and submit a list of donations of more than 20,000 rupees to election authorities.

Using the right to information law, ADR sought details from six national parties and 36 regional parties about their financing between 2003 and 2011.

This is what they found:

The five top parties mopped up $755m (£478m) in earnings between 2004 and 2011, most of it coming from donations and voluntary contributions.
The ruling Congress expectedly topped the list of earners, followed by the main opposition BJP. Next came the regional heavyweights, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) and finally the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
But what's really interesting is that less than 20% of their earnings on average came from officially declared donations - those above 20,000 rupees.
Only 11.89% of Congress's income and 22.76% of the BJP's income between 2009 and 2011 came from named donors.
The BSP, led by the Dalit leader Mayawati, declared it had not received any donations above 20,000 rupees on its earnings of $31m during 2009-2010.
Only the Communist Party of India (CPI), the other Marxist party, declared that over half of its income (57%) came from named donors.
When the ADR sought information from the political parties on their biggest donors, only the CPI gave the information.

The Congress party, it says, replied that it did not come under the right to information law.

The BJP did not reply.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), an ally of the ruling coalition, said it "didn't have enough manpower to provide the information".

If political parties are not declaring the sources of 80% of their incomes, something is still rotten with the state of political financing in India.

Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, a founding member of the ADR, believes most donors must be paying by cash using illicit money - or "black money" as it is called in India - on which they pay no taxes.

"The suspicion is that people indulging in wrongful businesses and tax evaders are the ones who donate the most to political parties." he says.

All this, the watchdog says, "brings to the fore the biggest farce that our democracy is plagued with - the opaque functioning of political parties with no space for engagement with the citizens".

Since 1996, political parties have been forced to declare their incomes, bringing in some transparency in political financing. Both donors - companies and individuals - and political parties can take advantage of income tax breaks.

But, as MV Rajeev Gowda and E Sridharan argue in a paper on political financing, it is not clear whether the incentive of tax exemption "outweighs the possible disincentive created by loss of anonymity" for the donor.

The donors, as they say, fear retribution from other parties to whom they have not contributed.

The country's campaign finance laws have tended to have "unintended, counter-productive, and perverse effects on the electoral system," say Mr Gowda and Mr Sridharan.

Clearly, India's political financing needs urgent reforms.

Analysts like Mr Gowda and Mr Sridharan suggest that parties should rely more on small donors which will make them more democratic and transparent.

In addition they should have access to public funding, auditing of sources of income and transparent donor identities.

These views may prove contentious. But what is not in dispute however is that people need to know more about how the parties they vote for are being funded.

Portugal backs down on social security tax rise

Protesters chanted outside the presidential palace, 21 September

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Eurozone crisis

• Crisis in graphics
• How eurozone crisis affects you
• What really caused the euro crisis?
• Q&A: Bonds and eurobonds

The centre-right government in Portugal has agreed to look for alternatives to a social security tax rise a week after huge anti-austerity street protests.

Previously, it had planned to raise contributions next year from 11% to 18%, to meet the conditions of Portugal's international bailout.

Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho announced his decision at a meeting with President Anibal Cavaco Silva.

Thousands of protesters chanted slogans outside the presidential palace.

Some firecrackers and bottles were thrown and five arrests made at the protest, as the presidential state council met late into the night in the capital Lisbon.

The presidential state council met for eight hours

Portugal was recently given an extra year to reduce its deficit, following the latest quarterly review by international lenders overseeing its 78bn-euro (£62bn; $101bn) bailout.

Last Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Lisbon and other Portuguese cities.

President Cavaco Silva called the meeting of his state council amid concern that Portugal's main trump card in the eyes of foreign investors, its cross-party consensus on austerity, was in tatters, the BBC's Alison Roberts reports from Lisbon.

A statement released afterwards said: "The council was informed of the government's readiness to study, within the framework of the social bargaining process, alternatives to changes in the social security rate."

It also said that differences between the two parties which make up the ruling coalition had been overcome, and they both remained committed to the bailout's targets.

The weekly newspaper Expresso said the prime minister was preparing a new cut in holiday subsidies for workers, in place of the tax rise.

India's Prime Minister Singh defends economic reforms

Mr Singh made a rare televised address to respond to concerns about his economic plan

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• Indian party quits the government
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has defended his economic reforms, saying they are necessary to fight an economic slowdown in India.

The reforms include allowing foreign supermarket giants to buy large stakes in India's retail sector.

They have been fiercely opposed by trade unions and prompted coalition ally, the Trinamool Congress party, to resign from government.

Mr Singh said the changes were needed to revive investor confidence.

"We have to restore the confidence of foreign investors... Money does not grow on trees and that is why we have made these decisions," Mr Singh said in a rare national televised address.

Earlier on Friday, six ministers belonging to the Trinamool Congress party led by Mamata Banerjee formally resigned from the coalition led by Mr Singh's Congress Party.

Under the government's proposal, global firms such as Walmart and Tesco will be able to buy up to a 51% stake in multi-brand retailers in India.

Multinational retailers already have outlets in India, but at present they can sell only to smaller retailers. This decision allows them to sell directly to Indian consumers.

The reforms, which were rolled out last week, also include cutting diesel subsidies and limiting subsidies on cooking gas.

Officials hope that increasing foreign investment will boost the stock market and encourage Indian companies to borrow cheaply abroad.

Mr Singh, who was credited with spurring India's massive economic growth as finance minister in the 1990s, has been under intense political pressure in recent years because of a number of unpopular policies.

India's economy has been growing at its slowest rate in two years and the government has struggled to balance a need to boost growth and prevent spiralling inflation.

Tiger mauls US man who leapt into Bronx Zoo enclosure

Three tiger cubs were born recently at the zoo

A 25-year-old man has been mauled by a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City after he jumped from an elevated train into a tiger enclosure.

The man lost a leg in the mauling, police said, and has been taken to hospital in critical condition.

Zoo staff used a fire extinguisher to chase the tiger off and the man was told to roll under the electrified wire to safety.

The man was conscious and talking, zoo director Jim Breheny said.

"If not for the quick response by our staff and their ability to perform well in emergency situations, the outcome would have been very different," he said in a statement.

It was unclear why the man jumped from the Wild Asia monorail, a train with open sides that takes visitors over the Bronx River and along the top of a fence past elephants, deer and tigers.

The man jumped 20 ft (6m) and cleared the two fences between spectators and the tiger enclosure.

A fire department spokesman said the man had deep cuts to his back in addition to the leg injury

Pakistan film protests: 19 die in Karachi and Peshawar

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad says police opened fire towards protesters who managed to breach the barricades

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Anti-Islam film protests

• Q&A: Anti-Islam film
• Film protests in pictures
• Viewpoints
• Protests explained

At least 19 people have died as violent protests erupted on the streets of Pakistan's main cities in anger at an anti-Islam film made in the US.

Fourteen people were killed in the port city of Karachi and a further five died in the north-western city of Peshawar, hospital officials said.

Protesters clashed with police outside the diplomatic enclave in the capital, Islamabad, near the US embassy.

There has been widespread unrest over the amateur film, Innocence of Muslims.

Dozens of people have been reported wounded and BBC correspondents said some were in a critical condition.

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At the scene

Aleem MaqboolBBC News, Islamabad

Pakistani police fired more tear gas into the dark, trying forcibly to bring protests in Islamabad to an end.

Right in front of me there was a sea of people completely shrouded in tear gas.

Earlier, a volley of live rounds caused many of the thousands of demonstrators to turn on their heels.

However, a hardcore of several hundred kept rushing out, chanting, then piling back in for more tear-gassing.

It was certainly a gamble by the Pakistani government to give the whole country a day-off to protest. The idea was to try to support peaceful demonstrations.

Islamabad was meant to have been sealed, but many protesters still managed to get in.

The focal point once again was the diplomatic quarter in the centre of the capital and the US embassy.

And it was a wider message from the protesters: a lot of the chants were not just against America, but against the Pakistani government.

The crowds called on Islamabad to break ties with Washington.

Aleem Maqbool on Twitter

Protests have already left several people dead around the world, including Pakistan, where the government had appealed in advance for peaceful protests, declaring a holiday and "day of love" for the Prophet Muhammad.

Although US targets have borne the brunt of protests against the film, anti-Western sentiment has been stoked further by caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published this week in the satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.

France shut embassies and other missions in around 20 countries across the Muslim world on Friday.

Protests were banned in France itself and in Tunisia, where France is the former colonial power, but there were widespread demonstrations elsewhere.

• A peaceful protest took place outside the US embassy in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur
• Some 3,000 people marched in the southern Iraqi city of Basra
• Thousands burned US and French flags in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka
• Crowds rallied in Baalbek in Lebanon in a protest organised by the Shia militant group, Hezbollah, burning US and Israeli flags
• Thousands of Libyans joined a march in Benghazi against Islamist militia who have been blamed for an attack in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed

Cinemas ransacked

But it was in Pakistan's major cities that protesters took to the streets in big numbers and tried to march on US diplomatic buildings.

Continue reading the main story

Film protests in pictures

• Protests across the Muslim world

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that "all governments have the duty, the solemn duty, to defend diplomatic missions", AFP news agency reported.

The worst of the violence took place in the country's biggest city, Karachi, and the north-western city of Peshawar, close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt.

Police in Karachi fired live bullets in the air to disperse crowds after a large rally that had begun peacefully turned violent. Several cinemas and banks were set on fire and there were reports of looting.

When police tried to stop the protesters heading to the US consulate, there were reports of gunfire from the crowd and a policeman was killed.

Health officials said the bodies of dead protesters were taken to two hospitals.

In Peshawar, protesters ransacked cinemas and a driver for Pakistan's ARY TV was killed when police opened fire on the crowd.

In the capital, Islamabad, which saw its first clashes between protesters and security forces on Thursday, a police checkpoint was burnt as demonstrators tried to breach the "red zone" where the main embassies and government offices are based.

Police used live rounds and tear gas as the crowd swelled to thousands of people.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool said the focal point of people's anger was the US embassy and he had seen more people injured in one hour than all of Thursday.

In Lahore, protesters toppled over shipping containers that police had placed on the road to block access to the US consulate.

Phones suspended

The low-budget film that has prompted the unrest was made in the US and is said to insult the Prophet Muhammad.

Its exact origins are unclear and the alleged producer for the trailer of the film, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is in hiding.

Anti-US sentiment grew after a trailer for the film dubbed into Arabic was released on YouTube earlier this month.

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Video courtesy of the US embassy in Pakistan

US citizens have been urged not to travel to Pakistan and the US embassy has paid for adverts on Pakistani TV showing President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning the film.

Mobile phone services had been suspended in many of the biggest cities to limit the potential for violence but critics questioned the Pakistani government's decision to declare a public holiday.

Government security adviser Rehman Malik told the BBC that the public holiday was the right decision and the protests would have gone ahead regardless.

"Imagine if I had not done the holiday, school would open, shops would open, the transport was on the road. Who could have handled it?" he said.